Chocolate Martinis and Good Friends

My name is Judy and I am an Internet addict. There, I said it. This fact dawned on me this morning. You see, last night I lost all sense of reality and mistakenly believed that having a few drinks with an overnight guest and then playing poker (wherein I lost miserably) until the early hours of the morning was a good idea. I mean, really. Did I just dream that I experienced my late teens and early twenties? Because if memory serves me correctly the mornings following those nights never seemed to be quite as fun as the festivities that precipitated the moment the alarm clock went off. Ah, live and learn....and learn....and learn....and learn.

As if drinking gallons of chocolate martinis followed by a mere four hours of sleep wasn't enough I encouraged my stupidity by asking my brother-in-law to revamp my computer. Great. Good going, Judy. So, not only are you hung over, tired, and irritable you also have no contact with the outside world. Yeah, intelligence is not my strong suit. After all, if I was that intelligent I would have stopped at two martinis, ten dollars under at poker and ten o'clock rather than two. Sigh.

If you have ever greeted the day with the stunned reality of no Internet service then you can commiserate with me today. As my brother-in-law feverishly keyed away I was feeling a bead of sweat form on my brow. I was really trying to calm the detox jitters (in more forms than one) of not being on-line when he announced that he might have to call me later and walk me through the network info to get me back on line. It was at that moment I came as close to losing my brain as I have ever come. Was he mad? No Internet? Gasp! How could I possibly survive the day without my little group of friends? How would I keep up with the goings on of my friend Pam's "flip-floppy" family or Susan's "itchy girl"? Or heavens, worse yet........HOW WOULD I VENT? Oh, no, he wasn't setting foot out that door until he got my Internet up and running. Gosh, how dare he even utter such a sentence to a hung over, tired daycare provider on a MONDAY?

I have been chomping at the bit since 6:30am. How would the world get along without my knowing every detail of every other providers' day? Would I fall behind the social curve of the world wide web? Panic set in.

And then my brother-in-law proudly announced that all was up and running and I felt my heart do a little flutter. Finally I could log on to my small world of people I like to call my friends. People I have never met but have a sense of assimilation and support. Yes, these are my co-workers, colleagues, therapy group, business managers, and most importantly I am proud to say that they are my friends.

Who needs a water cooler in a sterile, unfriendly office building to stand around and discuss your weekend with others? I get to do that from the comfort of my own home. And not one of my friends comments, if only in her head, that my shoes don't match my socks, or that I am in need of a root touch-up. Nope, just a group of great ladies who tell you the truth even when it hurts to hear it.

My name is Judy and I am an Internet addict. I just can't get enough of my friends. Well, all of you and those damned chocolate martinis.

For concerns, advice or suggestions I welcome your email at judytrickett@yahoo.ca